Yesterday we spoke of the food at KFWE, today we will give our views on the superb potables… As we entered the exhibit hall we found WaldersVanilla & Vodka, nestled among the food tables.

Grrrrreat tasting!

…we’d heard quite a bit about it and we just had to try it, what a delicious dessert drink! The wine selection was huge, obviously we’d never taste all of it, thus we had to be selective knowing full well we’d likely miss some real jewels. In any case here are our impressions of some we tasted:

Alexander Winery Alexander the GreatCabernet Sauvignon 2006 – Alexander’s top of the line composed of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5%Merlot grapes, it has a beautiful dark color with a hint of black. On the nose it shows berries, cherries and tobacco. A full bodied wine, rich and well balanced, a new favorite of mine!

SYR found the Baron Herzog Pinot Grigio 2009 delightful. – With a superb balance of acidity, a not so subtle perfume on the nose followed by tropical fruits, it goes perfectly with light pasta dishes. It proves, unequivocally, that a good wine need not be expensive.

Asaf Paz, at a wine tasting in 2009

Stopping by Binyamina‘s table, we tasted The Cave 2006 and 2007… This wine never ceases to amaze me, it’s consistently good. Aged in a 300 year old cave for 24 months it consists of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot. A world class wine that just happens to be kosher, the 2007 vintage was a bit more balanced in its taste and a bit more aromatic. Asaf Paz, one the two winemakers at Binyamina, was there presenting his wines and passionately discussing his craft. When I saw Binyamina‘s fruit liqueurs I just had to have some of their delicious Sour Apple, truly fruit in a bottle!

At Selection Bokobsa‘s table we tasted their Chateau GuiraudSauternes 2001… Woooow!!!! With aromas of lilies, mango, peach, honey and apricot, it is an intense, complex dry wine.

We tasted the CAPÇANESPeraj Ha Abib 2008, from Spain. Aged for a year in French oak barrels, from grapes grown on high mountain mineral stony terroir, grapes whose vines yield low amounts of fruit, this is an amazing full bodied wine.

There were more great wines we tasted, but the ones above impressed us the most. Let me also mention some of the liquors I liked. As a kid, growing up in Uruguay, I always wondered why the adults kept on referring to “agua ardiente,” burning water… I finally got to taste AguardienteAntioqueño, from Colombia. Now I understood the oxymoron. The name suddenly made sense and, yes, it was very good!!

Another liquor I’ll mention is San Francisco’s Distillery Number 209‘s Gin. Very fruity aroma, superbly tasting! Before leaving I had some Glengoyne17 Year Old Scotch Whiskey, extremely smooth with a very concentrated palette of incredible flavors!

As SYR put it, “It was a great evening of food, wines, meeting old friends and finding new ones. A truly amazing evening and I can’t wait until next year’s KFWE!”